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MORE Crazy U.S. place names (and signs!)

Yes, if youtravel anywhere in the U.S., you’re sure to come across some strange, unusual or downright funny place names! Here are some more!

This is a recreation area in Wisconsin. Marijuana isn’t legal in Wisconsin, but I guess they’re getting ready for when it becomes legal.

Welcome to Kentucky, a state that seems to revel in creating odd names! (In fact, there are even books written about all their strange place names!) Monkeys Eyebrow calls itself “The Goose Capital of Mid-America“. No idea what that means! And while you’re in Monkeys Eyebrow, make sure to stop in the neighboring town of Possum Trot!

Believe it or not, this town in New Jersey was named after a MAN. Go figure.

Yep, that’s really the name of the town! Well, it’s not a big town: only 10 residents. But you have to love the name! It was named after the fictional store in the Lum and Abner radio show that was broadcast from 1931-1954.

Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up! This place is in New Jersey. The name comes from the Lenni-Lenape Indian “Cheseh-oh-ke”, meaning “upland“. There’s even a Cheesequake State Park! (Try saying “Cheesequake” without smiling!)

Mmmmmmmm…..Pie Town! My kind of place! You’ll have to go to New Mexico to visit Pie Town, It was named (not surprisingly) after a pie-making place was built there in the early 1920s. There’s not much there: only 186 people, but there’s still a pie place (Pie Town Cafe), which makes something called the “New Mexican Apple Pie“, made with dried apples, green chili, and piñon nuts.

Chicken is one of the last remaining gold-rush towns in Alaska that’s still inhabited. There aren’t a lot of people here: somewhere between 7-17, according to the US Census, but there are still people there! Chicken was settled by gold miners in the late 19th-century and in 1902 the local post office was established. The post office needed a name for the town, and since there were a lot of ptarmigan around (an Arctic wildfowl sometimes called a “snow chicken“), they wanted to call it Ptarmigan. Unfortunately, they couldn’t agree on how exactly to SPELL “ptarmigan”, so they went with “Chicken”. No kidding!

(The willow ptarmigan, found throughout Alaska.)

Gold is still mined here, with several active mines in the area.

If it’s Santa Claus, it must be in Georgia! This little place of around 200 people has all kinds of Christmasy-named streets, including “Candy Cane Road“, “December Drive“, “Rudolph Way“, “Dancer Street“, “Prancer Street“, and “Sleigh Street“. I wonder how Dasher,Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen feel about NOT having a street named after them?

By the way, if you need more Santa Claus towns, there’s also a Santa Claus, Arizona, and a Santa Claus, Indiana!

Well, that’s all for now, but don’t worry: there will even MORE crazy US place names in a future post!

What’s this about?

This is a blog about places I’ve been, but it’s also about geography and art and culture and lots of strange and crazy things that I’ve experienced in my travels. I hope you find it interesting! Maybe something here will inspire you to have a travel adventure of your own!